Aligarh

Aligarh (formerly Allygurh and Koil) is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh that is famous for its lock industries. It is the administrative headquarters of the Aligarh district. It lies 307 kilometres (191 mi) northwest of Kanpur and is approximately 145 kilometres (90 mi) southeast of the capital, New Delhi. Notable as the seat of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh is the 8th largest city in Uttar Pradesh and 55th largest city in India.

Quotes

• 'There was a certain tribe in the neighbourhood of Kol which had' occasioned much trouble' 'Three bastions were raised as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became the food of beasts of prey. That tract was freed from idols and idol-worship and the foundations of infidelity were destroyed'.
  • Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) . Hasan Nizami: Taju’l-Ma’sir, in Elliot and Dowson, Vol. II : Elliot and Dowson, History of India as told by its own Historians, 8 Volumes, Allahabad Reprint, 1964. pp. 224.

• A gentlemen president from the upper strata of society, his upbringing seldom allowed anger and prejudices to get the better of him. He was also staunch Congressman, with a deep sense of commitment to secularism...later in life he had to contend with being called "communal" because he tried to attract young Muslims who had been educated at Aligarh Muslim University – a campus then perceived to be influenced by the communal ideas of the Muslim League – to the Congress.
  • About Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed. Scharada Dubey in: First among equals President of India, Westland, 2009

• "Qutb-ud-Din, whose reputation for destroying temples was almost as great as that of Muhammad, in the latter part of the twelfth century and early years of the thirteenth, must have frequently resorted to force as an incentive to conversion. One instance may be noted: when he approached Koil (Aligarh) in A. D. 1194, ' those of the garrison who were wise and acute were converted to Islam, but the others were slain with the sword '.
  • Dr. Murray Titus quoted from B.R. Ambedkar, Pakistan or The Partition of India (1946) (Alternative translation: “those of the garrison who were wise and acute were converted to Islam, but those who stood by their ancient faith were slain with the sword”. Lal, K. S. (1990). Indian muslims: Who are they. Original quote is from Hasan Nizami, Taj-ul-Maasir, E.D. [1])

• It is also notable that when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan founded the Aligarh Muslim University in 1875, it banned admission to low caste Muslims.
  • Malhotra, R. & Viswanathan V. (2022). Snakes in the Ganga : Breaking India 2.0.citing Kapur, Kamlesh. 2010. Portraits of a Nation: History of Ancient India. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers.